modal
part of speech
adjective (modal); noun (a modal, modals)
meaning for a pupil
1) (grammar) A modal, or modal verb, is a helping verb such as can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will or would, which shows how sure, possible, allowed or necessary something is. tree →
2) (maths) Modal means to do with the mode: the modal value is the one that appears most often in a set of data. tree →
3) (computers) A modal or modal window is a box that pops up on a screen and must be closed before you can go on. tree →
4) (music) Modal means using musical modes, kinds of scale. tree →
sense in the lessons
In English grammar lessons, modal verbs change meaning: «You must go» (necessary), «You might go» (possible), «You can go» (allowed or able). In maths, the «modal class» or «modal number» is the most common one in a tally chart or list. In apps and websites, a modal pops up to ask «Are you sure?». Phrases: «modal verb», «modal value», «modal class», «modal window».
examples
- «Must», «should» and «might» are modal verbs. tree →
- In «I can swim», «can» is a modal verb. tree →
- The modal shoe size in our class is 3. tree →
- Find the modal colour from the tally chart. tree →
- Close the modal window to go back to the game. tree →
- Modal verbs show how sure we are about something. tree →
note
Modal verbs have no -s for he/she/it («She can», not «She cans») and are followed by a verb without «to» («must go», not «must to go»). In maths: the mode is the value that appears most often; if two values tie, there are two modes. Do not confuse the mode with the mean (average) or median (middle).
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «modal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.